Al Maktoum International Airport Takes Shape

Al Maktoum International Airport, located in Jebel Ali, Dubai, is the largest greenfield airport project currently under construction in the world. By 2013, it is expected to handle more freight—up to 12 million tonnes per year—than any other cargo airport in the world.

The first of the airport’s five 2.8-mile-long runways opened in June 2010, and the first of 16 cargo terminals has been completed.

Expected to open next year, a passenger terminal capable of handling seven million passengers annually is now complete and undergoing testing. Two additional passenger terminals are in the design stage.

Three cargo carriers are now operating at the airport, with passenger flights expected to begin later this year.

The project’s general contractor is a joint venture comprising Dubai’s Arabtec Construction and Malaysia’s WCT Engineering. The estimated construction cost is $10 billion.

Al Maktoum is part of a larger development, Dubai World Central, a logistics hub with multimodal connectivity to a container port that will enable sea-to-air cargo shipments in less than one hour.